September/October 2004
The 2004 Presidential election is only weeks away!
Women are critical to this year’s election. In 2000, 46 million women were silent on Election Day. These figures indicate that too many women are letting others decide their futures for them. Elected officials have a tremendous impact on the things that women have said are important to them, including their family, their jobs, their healthcare, and their security. Women must vote for those officials who will pay attention to their needs and issues.
Time is running out to register to vote. Many state voter registration deadlines are in early October; however Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Wyoming allow voters to register on Election Day. For more information on registration deadlines, visit the AFSCME voter registration web page. Help get more women to the polls on November 2. Make sure your female family members and friends are registered. When you head to the polls on Election Day, bring them with you.
Protect your right to vote. Since the Florida 2000 election debacle, many states have passed Voters’ Bills of Rights, which explicitly and clearly describe state and federal rules for voters. Download the Voters’ Bills of Rights for your state and share it with your friends and family.
Educate yourself and others on where the candidates stand on issues of importance to women, such as health care, education and the economy. The AFSCME Women’s Rights Web site contains crucial information to help you talk about the issues, including past issues of the AFSCME WomENews and flyers for you to share with others.
In addition, reach out to your union sisters through the AFL-CIO’s Union Walks. From now through the Nov. 2 elections, working family activists will go door-to-door to get the word out about good jobs, overtime pay, affordable health care and other critical issues in this election year. Find out how you can join.
You can also volunteer to be an election worker and assist voters on Election Day. Duties vary from state-to-state, but typically involve checking people in before voting, instructing voters on how to use equipment, answering voters’ questions, and tallying votes after the polls close. For more information, contact your state election office or county clerk.
Do not let women’s voices continue to be silent in this election! We have a lot at stake this year. Your vote can help set this country on a new course for the future.
Tracking the Flight of Jobs Overseas
Working women are worried about their jobs going overseas. In fact, 79 percent of women surveyed during the 2004 Ask a Working Woman Survey were very concerned about this trend. Since January 2001, over 850,000 professional service and information sector jobs have been lost. Approximately 3.4 million white-collar jobs are to be exported by 2015. The policies of the current Administration promote the exportation of jobs instead of fighting to keep those jobs here at home.
A new tool by the AFL-CIO and Working America gives workers the power to track the companies that are exporting jobs from their communities. The Job Tracker identifies over 200,000 US companies and subsidiaries that are sending jobs overseas or losing jobs to trade. Try the new Job Tracker at Working America.
State Child Care Policies Fall Behind
State budget crises and stagnant federal child care funding have resulted in the backward movement of child care assistance policies, according to the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC). A recent report, Child Care Assistance Policies 2001-2004: Families Struggling to Move Forward, States Going Backward, found that states are cutting back assistance programs that help working families keep their jobs and care for their children. States are doing this by restricting eligibility for assistance, placing many families on never-ending waiting lists, raising co-payments and failing to keep up with the costs of providing care, according to the study.
In this difficult economy, women need jobs to support their families, but they also need child care assistance while they work. Recent policy changes and budgetary crises have curtailed these valuable programs. The major source of federal funding is the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG). Since 2000, funding for CCDBG has steadily decreased. Another source of federal funds is the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. For the past three years, Congress has failed to renew CCDBG and TANF and instead has passed only short-term fixes.
Without additional investments in child care, working families will continue to fall behind, instead of building strong and stable financial futures. To read the report, visit the National Women’s Law Center website.
Minimum Wage Fails Working Families
Across the country, families earning minimum wage cannot make ends meet, according to a recent study by Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW). The report, Coming Up Short: A Comparison of Wages and Work Supports in 10 American Communities, found that the $5.15 an hour minimum wage covers an average of just 34 percent of a family’s basic needs. The cost for a single wage earner to support two young children ranged from $27,660 per year, or $13.10 per hour, in New Orleans, LA to $59,544 yearly, or $28.19 per hour in Boston, MA. To read the report, visit the WOW website.
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month
Every 15 seconds a woman is physically assaulted by an intimate partner, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Moreover, a 2003 report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, found that in 2001 more than half a million American women (588,490 women) were victims of nonfatal violence committed by an intimate partner. Women also are much more likely than men to be killed by an intimate partner. In 2000, intimate partner homicides accounted for 33.5 percent of all the murders of women and less than 4 percent of the murders of men. Murder also remains the leading killer of pregnant women, according to the same report.
These alarming statistics underscore the importance of recognizing October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Domestic violence is prevalent throughout society and is not confined to any ethnic or racial groups or to the poor. Women and men from all walks of life can be victims of intimate partner violence.
Domestic violence is much more than just a woman’s issue. It is a union issue. Unions work to protect the health, safety and well-being of workers. Violence at home can often lead to violence in the workplace. AFSCME has created several publications to help unions and union members address domestic violence in the workplace. They include Domestic Violence: An AFSCME Guide, Domestic Violence: What Unions Can Do, and Coaching Boys into Men: Union Men Taking Action Against Domestic Violence, and are available through the Women’s Rights Department at womensrights@afscme.org and online in the Women's Rights Publications section of AFSCME's website.
For more information about talking to women about domestic violence, contact the Family Violence Prevention Fund. If you are currently involved in an abusive relationship, there are resources available and people who want to help you. Call 1-800-799-SAFE.
ROCC! Out with CLUW
In October, Working Women Reaching Out Against Cervical Cancer (ROCC!) and the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) will partner with Christine Baze – a talented union musician, cervical cancer survivor, and friend of working women – as she takes her Yellow Umbrella concert tour nationwide to raise awareness about this deadly, but preventable, disease. The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 12,000 women will be diagnosed with invasive cervical cancer this year and nearly 4,000 will die unnecessarily. Come see Christine perform and learn what you can do to protect yourself. Information about tickets, specific locations, times and the tour can be found on the Coalition of Labor Union Women website.
One Woman Can Make a Difference
Each month, AFSCME WomENews provides information on policies, issues and reports that address women’s lives and rights. These important topics, such as voter registration, domestic violence, cervical cancer, and child care policies, can be used to mobilize union women and motivate them to take action in their communities and workplaces.
To create awareness about an issue, talk with your union sisters and share the information you have collected. Most AFSCME WomENews articles reference sources for learning more about a topic. You can also talk with leaders in your local or council, including your women’s committee, to devise ways the union can address the issue. Possible options include forming a committee to explore the issue, hosting a public meeting or event about the topic, or talking with management to create ways to deal with the issue in the workplace. This last suggestion is particularly well-suited for addressing domestic violence in the workplace and helping possible victims.
One woman can make a difference. By sharing information on the topics that inspire or aggravate, you can be a catalyst for change in your workplace and community.
WomENews is produced by the Women's Rights Department and written by Karen Swift.